I wrote some notes upon my return to the house, they are posted below if you’d like to read them about my day outside in nature. Both paintings were done with a dry palette of watercolors and one waterbrush. The sketch below I first drew with a permanent ink pen, brown color, then put washes of color on it while standing there in my snow shoes. This sketchbook is a mere 4.5″x5″!
"Winter Water and Shadows"
my notes
I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of my walk, I encourage everyone to get outside despite what the weather might be like to have a closer look around you.
It was bright and sunny today but winter still hangs on, the snow is over a foot deep and I wish I had my snow-shoes on! The snow is heavy, wet and deep; as I trudge through it I thought of the word ’slogging’! Under the heavy snow is a deep, wet slaw of melted snow; I’m glad for my rubber boots.
"The Branches Reach Towards the Moon"
Ginger prances on ahead of me, begging me to hurry. Finally along the edge of the pasture I paused to catch my breath and attempt to capture a likeness of the moon with the trees reaching up towards it. At the end of this post you’ll see my small sketchbook and watercolors, and how I hold them on a clip board. Almost all my field sketches are done while standing and holding my book.
"The Field in Late February"
Well as you can read in my honest notes, Ginger surprised me and did something different; I feed her really I do! I guess you can’t stop instinct. I’m happy with how this little watercolor came out, I’m always trying to capture that color of the bushes in winter, they’re gorgeous. I was standing in deep snow and at the same time had to shrug my coat off my shoulders and take my hat off as the sun made me that warm. Maybe spring is coming?
"Paw Prints"
There are so many things to see if you take your time and look around you. The snow was quite hard on top, if you’re a lightweight animal. I noticed little tracks as I walked, then saw these little prints and had to sketch them. I brought no camera on purpose today, I wanted to really have to describe all I saw with my brush and pen. For tracks you can use your pencil or pen to measure the real size onto your sketchbook. I call this Comparative Measurements and it can be extremely accurate when you practice using it. These tracks were a bit hard to see because they were so shallow and the snow had dusted over them a bit. I drew the tracks at real size and then measured the distance between the sets, finding they were one pen length. This tells me it’s a small animal, at first I thought raccoon but when I looked on my pocket animal tracks guide I think it may be a skunk! Hey hibernation must be over! Look at this link to see a picture of my pocket track guide which, by the way, I don’t carry with me in the field.
"Snow Burrow"
Then as my eyes followed some more tracks, made by a fox I think, they led me to a small hole dug into the snow. I guessed that a fox, who used his great sense of hearing to listen for small mammals under the snow, had been by and dug down to ‘no surprise’ a burrow or tunnel of a vole. I like to think about the event that may have taken place, probably while the moon was shining on the snow at night. I wonder if he got his dinner?
"Paul's Chair"
As I said the sun was shining brightly as I returned from my day’s walk, trudging along the deep snowy lane. I looked off the lane into the woods and saw there a black metal folding chair. This chair is not there by mistake, my son Paul placed it there years ago and would disappear at times and he’d go here to sit in the woods. I think everyone should have a chair in the woods somewhere, where we can go escape or think. I felt a bit sad seeing it there by itself, perhaps it’s owner would never sit in it again as he’s off to college now. I just hope (as his mother) that he’ll always “find a chair somewhere” and sit in the woods.
Clip board with closed sketchbook
Here’s a picture of my clear clipboard with my handmade 4 1/2″ x 5″ sketchbook and watercolor palette attached. This is how it looks when I pull it from my bag, I use the rubber bands to hold the book shut and the palette. The palette is held on with blue ’sticky tack’ or ‘blue tack’. The sketchbook is clipped on with metal clips with the front cover.
Clip board with open sketchbook
This is how it looks when open, I use the white rubberband (actually it’s a hairband thing) to hold the piece of paper towel or to help hold the book open, or you can use a metal bankers clip. You can see I’m using my waterbrush today with the watercolors, I find it easier when hiking and especially in cold weather. Though it won’t work when it’s ‘really’ cold, it turns to ice on my paper!
I hope you enjoyed coming on my walk, please leave me a comment! I’ll have classes this summer in England where you can come along and sketch while we explore the gorgeous countryside. Please sign up your email address in the “subscribe to posts” box in the right column.
I actually walked pretty far on my land today, I bundled up with lots of layers and told Ginger the magic words, “Go for a WALK?” She can’t contain herself, to the point I get a little annoyed at her insistence at leaving this very moment, regardless of how cold it is and how many layers I believe I need.
"Tree on a Winter Day"
Today I tried to walk without stopping to look at every little thing, just for the start of my walk. I wanted to get some exercise today and do some studies once I get out on the land a bit. When we reached a lane I call “White Tail Trail” I was searching for something interesting. The sky was so blue and clear and when I looked up at this tree, I think an Ash, I liked the branches, shadows and colors. Armed today with my sawed off watercolor pencils and a waterbrush I started the tree, first with a light sketch of the trunk and branches with a light grey watercolor pencil. Now remember I told you I was bundled up? Well imagine freezing cold temperatures a bulky big coat, freezing toes and BIG mittens! haha…it’s always an adventure! I like to wear mittens where the tops flips back and your fingers are then exposed; these are great for quick sketching in winter. I tried to color the drawing with my little pencils and wet them with the waterbrush, but got frustrated when the water froze in a thin layer on the paper. So subsequent color layers became impossible; when I returned home I played around with adding some more color.
1-21-10 "Tree Scars and Bullrushes"
On my way back I stopped to look at the patterns on the trees in Aspen Hall, a favorite area on Long Lane. Where old branches had been but broken off now, there are scars that made interesting marks on the bark.
Here’s the notes I wrote on the page: “Old Branch Scars on an Aspen. Cold today but pretty, Blue skies, snow crunching, Ginger whimpers, we walk on, Chickadee calls, car drones in the distance. I wish I were farther away. We walk on. I pause to study a grapevine tendril- curled still though long dead. And the beauty of the Bull Rushes, the elegant lines…”
1-21-10 "A Bit of Grapevine"
I just love the way grapevine tendrils reach out for anything and grab on…twirling and twining. With this one I was trying to sketch their forms as they twisted out into the air too, I like the way the sunlight cast a good shadow. My feet and hands were very cold at this point and it was hard to concentrate, holding my sketchbook in front of me as I stood to draw this vine clinging to my fence. But as usual I’m glad I took my sketchbook with me to stop and see things.
Today I went for a walk with my dog Ginger out through the pasture to the field beyond. As it says in my notes the morning was very cloudy and misty, I think because the temperature has warmed enough that the snow is melting. Click on any picture to see larger.
Page 1-notes from my walk
Believe me it’s still cold! There was ice crunching beneath my boots but it was all water underneath; the ground is absolutely saturated with snow and water. You can see on my first page, I was playing around with the watercolors to capture that beautiful reddish color in the field. It’s actually all the tips of the bushes, together they look like a mass of this color.
Page 2-Watercolor sketch of the field
Here’s a very small sketch I did while standing in the snowy field.
Page 3-Ink sketch on the Lane
Sometimes I like to take a shape and trace it on the page to play around with, sketching inside or outside it. I had already put this square in the sketchbook and found it when I flipped the page, so I decided to do a tiny ink sketch of my view ahead. This is out by Aspen Hall, a special place on my land, all those trees ahead on the left are “Aspen Hall”. When working with permanent ink pen I sketch by making little marks of where I want things placed, you will always see little mismarks on my ink sketches because I believe in being loose and kind of scribbly. It’d be different if this was a planned drawing done while sitting at my drawing table in the studio.
Here’s a very small sketch (4″x5″) that I did outside in the freezing cold. The sun had set and twilight time was coming, when the snowy landscape takes on a bluish cold tone. I tried to use my waterbrush but the water was freezing on the paper too fast and in the bristles! So I used my permanent ink pen and that was scraping the ice off the paper, I had to laugh a bit, I’ve never tried to watercolor when it was this cold. I colored it inside after thawing my fingers out.
Below I included the small page of notes that I wrote about the sketch.
I have a few sketches to share that came before New Years Eve day, I’ve been getting behind on my updates here! So just a few sketches, the above one is a wasp that paid a visit to my bathroom windowsill. I wasn’t even sure what it was at first because it was so small. But I’m pretty sure it’s a wasp, I helped him find his way outside! What was really neat is that I held a magnifying glass up to study him, I was able to see so much more!
Thistle and Chickens in Winter
Then just the other day I realized it had been forever since I went outside and did some sketching in my field sketchbook. So, though it was in the Teens I ventured out with small sketchbook and simple ink pens in hand. I also brought my camera and had fun taking black and white photos till my fingers absolutely froze. I drew these sketches wearing big fat mittens, it was really hard!
December 29, 2009 journal
These are notes from the back of my journal from that day. It’s a small sketchbook that I made myself and in the back are pages made from cheap computer paper just for note taking freely.
Ink sketches of weeds in the snow
“Dead weeds…seeds awaiting Spring..so is it really ever dead? Awaiting a warmer time in a warmer clime.”
New Years Eve watercolor sketch
I hope my writing is readable, I wrote it after dropping my sketchbook into the snow and the paper was damp! It really may look simple but looking back at this little sketch reminds me exactly of the day and standing there to paint it.
New Years Eve 2009 journal
Though I’ve scanned my pages above I’ll type them out so you can read them better. This is what I wrote in the back section of my sketchbook where I just write my thoughts.
“December 31, 2009-New Years Eve, I walked across the yard, the ice crunching under my boots, and reaching the side of the yard with bushes, weeds + trees. I stopped as a Mourning dove flew from a distant tree. I stood still and just waited, listened + watched. Then I noticed a group of house sparrows in the treeline, clustered together like a friendly band of cheerful friends. I remained still. Then I saw a sparrow closer this time, oh it’s a Chipping Sparrow! With a red cap! He’s looking for seeds on the weed heads, I remained still. Two Blue Jays silently flew from one tree to the next and then a tiny Chickadee…followed by another…then a woodpecker (Downy) made it’s appearance followed by the whirring sound of doves wings. Overhead now I hear a flock of Canadian Geese coming..one, two, three….23! Just standing silent at the yards edge in Winter, so much life if you stop and watch and listen. Now they seem to all have moved on…time for me to move on.”
Today it was sunny and very blustery! We decided to take a hike near Clennell up the valley along the River Alwin then we looped back by walking up and along one of the huge hills. What gorgeous views we had! Of course I brought my field kit for watercolors with me hoping to find a quick sketch, as usual we pushed on without much lingering for painting or we’d never do the loop before dark. I did get some pencil sketches done that I later colored with watercolor as you’ll see.
Along the Alwin River
This is the valley we hiked along for a few miles, flat and easy except for the driving wind blowing on us at the start. It settled down as we got into the valley more. You can see on the far left a dust cloud with a huge truck in it, that’s a logging truck coming down the road we’re walking on, we’ll be headed around the base of that hill soon.
River Alwin into the Kidlandlee Dean
As we walked occasionally a Grey heron would be spooked from the river and fly upstream a bit. We had the valley all to ourselves except for the sheep and maybe one passing truck. The Kidlandlee Dean is the forest area ahead; a Dean is a small ravine, a word that comes from the Anglo Saxon’s. At the base of those pine trees we’ll turn our path up to the right and go up onto the hill we’ve been hiking along side.
RIver Alwin and "The Dodd" (hill)
Here I was able to convince Gary to stop long enough to let me catch my breath and sneak in a quick pencil sketch. This is just before we started to walk up the huge hill and I’m looking across the River Alwin and the Kidlandlee Dean is just to my left. The hill I sketched I found out later is called “The Dodd”. Later at home I painted the colors in with my waterbrush and watercolors while looking at the laptop photos. I put notes at the bottom of the colors I used.
River Alwin below
You can see we’ve been walking along the hillside, this is looking back towards the spot where I sat and sketched. We walked all along that ribbon of road down there! Along the way there are sheep that give you a look before running off into the grass, these two were right on the edge of the hill, it was pretty steep.
Hills called "The Dodd" and "Old Rookland"
Looking back again; though the hills look bleak the colors on them of the bracken, grasses and grey-blue stone are really beautiful, but most especially when the sun hits it and creates dramatic shadows!
An old Drovers road also called "Border County Ride"
This is a view looking back along the road that we picked up on top of the hill. Gary says that it probably an old Drovers road, a drover being someone who’d be hired to drive cattle to market by the farmers 200 years ago or more. So they are English Cowboys I guess! Some 400 years ago they would have been using this road and would have to defend the cattle against the Border Rievers who could steal the cattle.
View of Clennell Hill
This is a view looking across the valley (at the steep edge the sheep are on) to Clennell, we walked up that valley along the river. The wind was whipping but you can see the views were spectacular, so vast.
View over Clennell towards Rothbury
We sat here upon the top of this hill looking out over Clennell and Rothbury would be further on in the distance, Alwinton would be to our right. A farmer was burning some wood piles down below and it could be imagined that in ancient times when the Celts had their settlements there, there would be similar fires burning. Just below us to the right, on top of a smaller hill is the remains of a Celtic ring fort, at one time it would have had small fires burning in the crisp fall air.
Watercolor sketch "Views over Clennell"
We threw the waterproof picnic blanket on the ground and I sat to do a quick sketch. I just used my pencil and ‘zoomed’ in on a view that you see in the photo previous. It was so windy and cold I had a heavy wool blanket over my shoulders as I sat to help block the wind. Come to think of it, lucky I had on my rain pants too, they block the wind quite a bit. All the paint marks you see in the upper left I did on the spot as color notes. I used my big flat waterbrush and labeled colors, yes I know it is right on my watercolor sketch but it’s a ‘working sketchbook’ too and I wanted to do color notes on the spot. So when I got home I painted it in while looking at my laptop, using my big waterbrush (pictured on my equipment page).
I hope you enjoyed coming along on this hike with me, you didn’t have the feel of the wind on your face or smell the fires burning but maybe someday you can come on a real hike with me and learn how to paint in the field too. I welcome your comments below!
Just some little sketches from my field book. I pick up leaves just like so many people do, I can’t help it, they call to me from the ground all wet and shiny and brilliant colors. Each one calls, “Pick me up, pick me!” I end up with a pile tucked into my sketchbook where they get nicely pressed but I usually only have time to get one done before they lose their vibrant color. That’s what happened here, I wanted to use my watercolor pencils (and waterbrush) to test colors it would take and the second day when I went to finish it the leaf had already faded quite a bit.
European Goldfinches
The Goldfinches were neat, they kept landing in the long grass in front of my window and eating the dandelion seeds from the seed heads. It was funny to see this one bird with a seed sticking out of his beak, he’s twirl it around from one side of his beak to the other, it looks like a cigarette in the sketch! I used my watercolor pencils for this too, with a waterbrush.
We drove across England to take part in the Buxton Book fair held in the Pavillion Gardens in Buxton. We got up at 2:30 am and we left around 5am…oh wow was I tired today! I did this little watercolor sketch while sitting at my table, between talking to people. You can see I was most interested in the gorgeous tall windows and the view of the fall trees outside.
At Buxton book fair.
Here’s one part of my set up selling Limited Edition prints, open edition prints and note cards. I had a lot of fun chatting with the local people who came by my table and bought my cards.
Windows of the Pavillion
Stage in the Pavillion at Buxton book fair.
Here’s a photo of the stage as you look across the room, it was a gorgeous old Victorian building with hardwood floors. a cafe and a shop filled with local artists works.
In the sea of books.
I never saw as many books!!, well not since I worked as a librarian in college at the Buffalo State College library. I wish I had more time to shop, I loved seeing the old book cover designs. Next time I’ll try to take pictures of some.
I am not sure when I started to be fascinated by mushrooms and fungi, but when I go hiking I find I’m always stopping to notice them tucked away under branches, logs or leaves. Sometimes they’re right in front of you on the sides of dead or dying trees or right on the path, or they may be hiding waiting for your keen eye to catch them.
I spotted this pair right in the lawn (that needed cutting!) and what an interesting mushroom. My best guess is a “Shaggy Ink Cap”. I wondered why it was named that until I saw it a few days later.
Shaggy Ink Cap watercolor sketch
I did this little sketch with just watercolors, I wanted to avoid doing a careful pencil sketch and just kind of block in some green to form the light shapes of the mushrooms. I used a waterbrush which is handy but can be a bit limiting; it’s not as easy to mix quick pools of color in your pan and you must have a paper towel handy to clean between colors. Also I usually use just the one size waterbrush when doing a quick sketch so you use it to make wide and narrow lines or marks. The challenge on this set of fungi was the shaggy part, how to paint it without fussing too much? The “shags” were light and pointy, really their form was created by the darks around them…above and below. If I was doing a careful study I’d spend more time on that feature.
Me working on the sketch
Here’s a picture of me working to show my set up; I’m sitting on my blue foam pad because the grass is damp and chilly, it was early morning still. It’s not the best posture for someone with a ‘bad’ back, no support, but what are you going to do? That’s partly why I worked so fast, I get achy!
Looking over my shoulder
You can see my new little field kit there, I use it as a purse and carry my bare essentials for field sketching. The art supplies take presedence I have to admit…no make-up just some money, credit card and the rest is for drawing! My motto, “Be Prepared”! I’m holding the watercolor pan in my left hand, waterbrush in the other. I have regular brushes in the pan in case I want to use them or have water with me.
Shaggy Ink Cap
This is how it looked the day I painted it.
Two days later
And this is just two days later, I was shocked! I guess that’s where it gets it’s name, INK cap. It was eerie looking, dripping black goo, like it had melted.
Two days later close-up
I would like to learn more about this, and why it does that. Any of my readers know?… leave me a comment please. I didn’t have a chance to draw it at this stage, been too busy going off on hikes. I have been photographing many types of mushrooms, my favorite so far is the Fly Agaric…bright red cap with white flecks on it. I hope to do a painting of that one too.
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